I succeeded in connecting to the Internet over my Globalstar GSP-1600 satellite phone using Windows software running on Win7. The phone is ancient, and so is the technology in the satellites, only allowing 9600 baud connections. However, when out in the boonies, that is good enough for email and checking the weather report. It is most certainly better than nothing.
The phone connects over a serial connection to the computer. None of my computers have serial ports anymore, so I bought a DB9 to USB adapter, and that worked.
The Windows software that I installed in Win7 as a 'proof of concept' did not appear to do anything magic. It set up DUN, probed for the phone on a serial port, and then dialed #777 to connect over the Globalstar data network. I'm sure that this can be done in Linux.
However, at this point I am pretty much lost. The Globalstar phone has some documentation on it here, and starting on page 71 in that PDF, it tells one how to connect using Red Hat 6.1.
/usr/bin/pppinit does not exist in Kubuntu 12.04, and neither does netconf. They are not available in the repository either.
When I plug the phone into a usb port,
shows an entry as /dev/ttyUSB0. That entry disappears when I unplug the phone's USB cable to the computer. I'm guessing that the OS sees the device. Now I just need to interact with it.
KPPP has a wizard, but it is only good for a few foreign countries, and Canada is not among them. I tried wading through the KPPP handbook on the rest of it, using the info in the Globalstar PDF, but got nowhere. It would appear that I will need some information from Globalstar as to domain name, and possibly some other stuff, unless that information can be obtained from the Windows setup which I know works with this computer and this phone. Anyone know how to extract that information from Windows 7?
The phone does appear to operate as a standard Hayes modem (from what I can tell from the Globalstar PDF), and it is most likely a hardware modem given its age and the fact that it is external.
So, any suggestions on how to proceed from here?
FWIW, I found a related thread in FeforaForum.org where a fellow found out that the Fedora network manager had the ability to configure an external modem on its own. Don't know if there is any applicability here or not.
Frank.
The phone connects over a serial connection to the computer. None of my computers have serial ports anymore, so I bought a DB9 to USB adapter, and that worked.
The Windows software that I installed in Win7 as a 'proof of concept' did not appear to do anything magic. It set up DUN, probed for the phone on a serial port, and then dialed #777 to connect over the Globalstar data network. I'm sure that this can be done in Linux.
However, at this point I am pretty much lost. The Globalstar phone has some documentation on it here, and starting on page 71 in that PDF, it tells one how to connect using Red Hat 6.1.
/usr/bin/pppinit does not exist in Kubuntu 12.04, and neither does netconf. They are not available in the repository either.When I plug the phone into a usb port,
Code:
ls /dev/tty*
KPPP has a wizard, but it is only good for a few foreign countries, and Canada is not among them. I tried wading through the KPPP handbook on the rest of it, using the info in the Globalstar PDF, but got nowhere. It would appear that I will need some information from Globalstar as to domain name, and possibly some other stuff, unless that information can be obtained from the Windows setup which I know works with this computer and this phone. Anyone know how to extract that information from Windows 7?
The phone does appear to operate as a standard Hayes modem (from what I can tell from the Globalstar PDF), and it is most likely a hardware modem given its age and the fact that it is external.
So, any suggestions on how to proceed from here?
FWIW, I found a related thread in FeforaForum.org where a fellow found out that the Fedora network manager had the ability to configure an external modem on its own. Don't know if there is any applicability here or not.
Frank.
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